Anil Kumar, a 23-year-old medical student, is broke, but is planning a party in the evening. All he needs to do is walk down to the infertility clinic in his college and collect the money. A normal, healthy person gets paid Rs 500, but since Anil is a medical student he gets Rs 1,500 - for donating sperm, that is.

In conservative India, where masturbation once earned boys bad name, it is now earning them pocket money. Suddenly, boys - mostly university students - have found a new way to make a fast buck.

And in traditional India, medical or engineering students are preferred. “It’s because it is perceived by most infertile couples that medical or engineering students’ superior seed will produce more smart children like them. They’re in demand,” says Dr Nandita Palshetkar, infertility expert at Delhi’s Batra Hospital.

“We get hundreds of calls each day from boys wanting to donate (sell) their sperm,” Palshetkar adds. “In fact, we have over a 100 donors already as part of our programme in Delhi and Mumbai who donate regularly.”

Sperm banks or infertility clinics don’t need to advertise. Most donors hear about it through word of mouth. “It’s mostly the medical students who understand the logic behind the donations and basically are not ashamed to go to the nearby infertility clinic to donate,” says Dr Anup Gupta, Medical Director, IVF and Fertility Clinic in Delhi.

Dr Gupta pays a donor “Rs 200” each time. “We are very happy to pay them for their donations. They’re helping us by donating their sperm. We don’t consider it as selling,” says Gupta.Says Sanjay, an unemployed youth and a regular donor at the Batra Hospital: “As long as I am not committing a crime to earn my livelihood, I am fine with it.” “I donate at least once a week, sometimes even twice or thrice. It earns me my bread and butter. At the same time, I help couples who cannot conceive,” he adds. Sanjay, 27, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, heard of the donations “through a friend” when he “was almost dying of hunger” for he had no job. “I’ve been donating sperm for the last two years,” he says.

However, not everyone can walk in, donate their sperm and walk out with the money. The donors have to be healthy individuals with no chronic disorders such as high blood pressure, diabetes etc - between 21 and 35 years. “We take all their tests, which last for an entire day. If they are healthy, we include them in our programme,” Dr Palshetkar told Timesofindia.com on the phone from Mumbai. Vidyut Kapoor, 22, a medical student in Delhi, walks down to the infertility clinic in the college he studies in every week. “It’s basically whenever I am short of cash, or whenever I have the urge,” he laughs.

There have also been instances of infertile couples dealing directly with the donors. “I was at the AIIMS clinic to donate, which I do regularly,” recalls Gaurav (name changed), an intern Doctor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). “And an infertile couple waiting there saw me. They asked me a few questions about my family and my education, and were ready to pay me Rs 10,000.”

<I> Source: Times of India</I>